08/07/2003 | W3IY/R Things were looking good as we set-up stuff
in FM15vx. We were hearing the 432 beacon from
WA4PGI and the 222 beacon from W3CCX. This
beautiful view over the Albemarle sound in NC
is always site to behold. We found Dave, W2KV
about an hour before contest time, and easily
worked him on 10GHz from FN20 (522Km). We were
psyched. As the contest unfolded, activity was
OK, but conditions seemed a little down from
earlier. We were able to QSO W3MHS & W4SW on
skyline drive thru 3.4/2.3, but a storm chased
them off the mountain before we could work them
on the higher bands. 1296 seemed to be a little
too quiet, and we later excorcised a few drops
of water from the bulkhead feedthru, to gain
about 20dB of signal. We QSOed AA2UK & K1RZ
from here thru 10G...vy FB.

The bands were pretty quiet on the drive to FM25,
but we did see a passing rover going the other way.
He didn't seem to have his ears on, so we weren't
sure who it was. We didn't work any rovers from
here, so whoever it was didn't make it into the
logs. It would have been nice to work our own
grid for a change...hi. We can usually work some
stuff from the bridges over the Alligator River
and the inland waterways, but the UHF contest is
much more quiet than June or Sept.

FM25 seemed to be an RF-black hole for us. The
beach plants keep getting higher, and the signal
strengths really seemed to suffer. I think we
need a new site in this grid. Our best QSO was
AA2UK on 3456, and we couldn't make it any higher.
This is a bad sign, as Bill is loud from all
other grids. We did work K1RZ on 2304 from here,
as well, but everyone seemed much weaker in
FM25ev. Some construction near our site will
make this one obsolete very soon. We scouted a
better location which we will try next trip.

FM26ai was a bit brighter for us. Working AA2UK
thru 10GHz with good signals was encouraging.
K1TEO was about normal strength, and we worked Jeff
through 2304 from here. This confirmed our suspicions
that condx were about average with little or no
enhancement. The site we used doesn't see NW or W
very well, but we had already figured out that
activity in those directions was slim to none. It's
just not possible to work 8-landers from here without
some big help from the propagation gods.

The Bay Bridge Tunnel is always an impressive site,
with near-360 degree views, and 0-degree take-off
angles. 26 QSOs from FM16 in about 90 minutes isn't
anything to hollar about, and we were starting to
suspect that activity was down. Again, we found
AA2UK on all bands, easily, and K1TEO thru 2304 agn.
W2SZ was worked on 432 but disappeared as we were
waiting for a 903 try. It seems to be hard to work
much inland dx from this coastal area in the middle
of the Chesapeake Bay. We had similar results from
FM27 & 27, all on the bridge, but activity was really
dropping off as the hour got late.

A couple hours rest in FM28 was a good idea before
the short drive to the mosquito capital of North
America at Deal Island, FM28be. Fortunately the wind
was blowing hard enough to make it difficult for the
skeeters to land on us, but they were there trying
hard. Unfortunately, wind in the morning doesn't
usually indicate good band condx. Nevertheless,
we were hearing the CCX beacons really well thru
1296. The bands were totally quiet until 0600, when
K2SMN broke the silence for us. We were lucky to work
Roger thru 1296 from here. Things improved as we were
then able to work K1TEO, N3EMF, & K1RZ thru 10GHz from
here. We also found WA4GPM from here on C,D,&E for
3 new multipliers...tnx, Buzz.

We stopped near the highway in FM18, to avoid losing
time getting to a better site. Agn, we were lucky to
catch AA2UK, K1TEO, K1RZ, & N3EMF thru 10G from here.
It's always noticeable that signals get louder, as we
get further north, closer to the activity. The view
to the north, across the Choptank River is fair, but
blockage to the west from here has been a problem in
the past, when there were actually some stations on
from there.

In FM29aa, the corn was much higher this time than
last year. We found a site where the antennas were
peaking over the tassles, and managed to do OK. It
was exciting working K1WHS on 432 from here with
S5 signals. We also found W3HMS and W4SW on Skyline
Drive agn, and were able to QSO them thru 10G! Vy
nice QSOs...Tnx! Agn, K1RZ & AA2UK thru 10G was
wonderful. K1TEO was worked thru 3.4G, as the corn
tassles seemed to eat Jeff's 10G signals this time.
Working rover-to-rover with K1DS/R thru 2.3G was
a nice treat here as well. K4QI helped us out
with 3 new mults on C,D, & E here...tnx!

A special thanks to my good friend and rover partner, Christophe,
ON1CFX for his many contributions, electronic, mechanical, and
for his operating expertise. He travelled from Belgium specifically
for the UHF contest. Now that's dedication!


Our last stop was FM19xa, also in the corn fields
of the Eastern Shore of MD. Results were similar
to FM29, with a few new Packrat stations showing up.
There were many expected stations who we didn't hear
this year. I hope for better activity next year,
but we still had a fun weekend staying pleasantly
busy on the bands.

We found it to quite effective having one operator
cruising 144.260, while the other ran microwaves
with stations.

To those who weren't there, you missed a great
oppurtunity to work a lot of microwave QSOs. It's
not often that we get 24hrs to concentrate on the
UHF bands. Use 'em while we still got 'em, guys! -- W3IY